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Coffee-Marinated Steak by Cleo Coyle

Here’s a simple recipe for making an economical cut of beef taste like a richer dish. The cooking process can overly dry thinner or less expensive cuts of meat. A coffee marinade imparts a wonderful, earthy character to the meat while also plumping it up, keeping it moist throughout the grilling process. And if you cook it on the stovetop like this...

The process will yield amazing pan drippings, which you can use to make a fantastic coffee gravy.

That's what our amateur sleuth Clare did in our 2nd Coffeehouse Mystery Through the Grinder. After sizzling up these steaks in a cast iron skillet for a special dinner date, she whipped up a Hearty Coffee Gravy, perfect with her side of Garlic Mashed Potatoes. (Both recipes are included in Through the Grinder.)As for the coffee-marinated steak, you can download the recipe now in a free PDF by clicking here. Or continue reading this post by scroll down or clicking here or on the "Read more" link below...

Why we love this recipe...While a super-fat T-bone steak will retain its moistness during grilling, cuts like that are far from economical for families on a budget. That's why we love the coffee marinade, which brings earthy flavor as well as moistness.

As an experiment, we grilled top a round coffee-marinated steak alongside a rib eye steak treated only with dry rub. The top round was half the price, but tasted twice as good, thanks to its little bath in bean juice. Enjoy!

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CLEO COYLE'SCOFFEE-MARINATED STEAKS

Ingredients:Steaks for grilling or broiling Coffee, freshly brewed and cooledSalt & PepperWorcestershire sauce (optional)Scallions or shallots (optional)Favorite steak dry rub (optional)Step 1 – Purchase your meat:Go for an economical cut. (We use top round.) Pound the steak out with the spike side of a meat hammer. If you don’t have a meat hammer, then put your steak in a plastic bag and pound it with a regular hammer or the back of a ladle, and prick it all over with a fork. This starts the tenderizing process. (It also does wonders for venting frustration. Who needs therapy when you can pound meat?)Step 2 – Cover with coffee: Place your steaks in a glass or plastic container and pour enough cold coffee over them to cover. You can use any kind of coffee. Choose one you would enjoy drinking and brew it up fresh. Just make sure you allow the coffee to cool completely before pouring it over the raw meat.Step 3 – Add a little seasoning: Add a tablespoon of salt (we use coarsely ground sea salt), a dash of pepper, and (optional) a couple of diced scallions or shallots along with a dash of Worcestershire sauce. Cover the container with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 1 to 3 hours. No longer! Step 4 – Remove and cook: Pull the steaks out of the container and discard the liquid. Do not rinse, simply apply a favorite dry rub. Cook your coffee-marinated steaks on a charcoal or gas grill; or broil the meat in the oven; or follow our amateur sleuth Clare's example in Through the Grinder and cook them on the stovetop. Lightly grease a cast iron (or heavy skillet) with butter or olive oil before cooking. If using the stovetop method, be sure to save the pan drippings for gravy. For our side dish recipes of Hearty Coffee Gravy and Garlic Mashed Potatoes, turn to the appendix of our 2nd Coffeehouse Mystery, Through the Grinder.

To download a PDF version of this recipe that you can print, save, or share,